SIFMA

Dealer groups say changes to FINRA rules should be cohesive with municipal rules.

Much of the material being retired dates back more than 35 years.

From ESG to infrastructure, regulation to legislation, SIFMA's President and CEO Ken Bentsen and Managing Director and Associate General Counsel Leslie Norwood discuss what SIFMA members are prioritizing on Wall Street and in Washington when it comes to munis. Lynne Funk and Kyle Glazier host. (34 minutes)

The dealer group is concerned the SEC may provide another exemption for municipal advisors to work on private placement deals.

The reduction would be the largest the MSRB has done, substantially more than a previous one which caused a loss of $5.2 million.

Since a temporary exemption allowing muni advisors to facilitate certain private placement deals expired, a federal court cannot strike it down, the SEC argued.

The group specifically revised six of its model disclosure documents for risk disclosure including floating rate notes, fixed-rate bonds, interest rate swaps, forward delivery bonds, tender offer bonds and variable rate demand obligations.

Dealers said the pandemic has highlighted the challenges of outdated rules and the need to modernize them.

The MSRB is planning to overhaul existing rules in 2021, while stakeholders will lobby the SEC for and against reviving a registration exemption for muni advisors.

Sources see ways to get more investment in infrastructure with municipal bond provisions, but bipartisanship will be essential.

SEC Chair Clayton told Rep. French Hill, R-Ark., late last week that he expects the program to sunset at year's end as scheduled.

Multiple news articles, which the SEC did not include, contradict the commission's major reasoning for why a temporary exemption for municipal advisors was needed, SIFMA said.

The SEC said the court should oppose SIFMA's motion to include news articles in the proceedings, saying the group relied on only one rationale.

The GFOA Debt Committee is working on issuing a similar Libor advisory in advisory in January or February.

A majority of economists surveyed by SIFMA expect a swoosh-shaped recovery, while 20% saw a W-shaped recovery, with a double-dip decline.

During an industry briefing Tuesday, SIFMA's Kenneth Bentsen, Jr., said no matter who leads the SEC next, SIFMA will argue for an end to a temporary exemptive order.

SIFMA told a federal court that the SEC's process failed when it announced the temporary conditional exemption for muni advisors.

Record new issuance in 2020 in the face of dealing with shutdowns, diminishing tax revenues and political unrest shows how resilient the industry is.

The majority of the spending was $21.36 million devoted to lobbying members of Congress and federal agencies over the 12 months that ended June 30.

Market participants say the year long process to find a new leader for the Municipal Securities Rulemaing Board resulted in a good pick.